Filming again

I have decided that I want to film some more as some of the clips I have are not very good. I am going to be filing again on 10/12/11 and this will provide me with some better clips and I also hope that I may be able to film some narrative to go along with the performance part of the video.

No reply form the record label

I have not received an e-mail back from the record label so I am going to assume that they have not got an issue with me using the track for my A2 music video. If I do receive anything from them I will update this post.

Actors

For my video I have used the following actor:

Tom - he is the only actor in the video

Location - Main Task

The location that I am going to use is....

Below are some photos of the location that I have taken

Paradigm and Syntagm

I have created the following for my performance elements of my music video

The elements highlighted create a syntagm and the elements in bold on the right are the Paradigm. This has allowed me to focus on what I am going to include in my video and it will help to construct the performance but the camera position will change otherwise the audience may become oppositional.

Meida Langauage

In a lesson we discussed media language and we learnt that media language is the codes and conventions of a media text.

Convention + Convention +Convention = Code

Convention = Expectations

Conventions of the horror genre

• The final girl
• Psychopathic villan
• Isolated

Narrative codes - Example

Applying Barthes narrative codes to music videos from Paul Weller.

(Please note that Paul Weller was in The Jam)

There are more cultural codes in Paul Weller videos than any other, the reason for this is that in the 1970's and the 1980's there were a lot of different trends such as punk, skinhead, mods and rockers and Paul Weller music is aimed at the mods and rockers. Paul Weller was also part of the jam and the style council and this made him popular amoung this scene.

Here is an example of a music video with Barthes cultural narrative code in

There is also some symbolic elements to his music. An example of this is The Jam - Going underground (which I have analysed before) and Eton rifles and the reason for this is that there is an element of anti-establishment throughout both of the songs, here are the two videos...

The Jam - Going underground

The Jam - Eton Rifles

Storyboarding

Before I film the music video I have planned the shots that I am going to use, the images below show the storyboards that I created. The reason that this is useful is that I already know what I am going to shoot, what camera angles and the duration of the shot. All of this means that I don't waste time when on location trying to film.

Intertextual refrences

In the lesson we talked about intertextual references and we came to the conclusion that it may be a good thing to include in our music video. This will not only give us something to talk about in the exam but it will show that we have thought about micro elements as well as the macro. The intertextual reference that I am going go use is a horizontal one which is a similar shot to the original video. I may also use a second intertextual reference which is a number of Paul Weller albums which is also an horizontal intertextual reference.

Organising filming

Due to industrial action on Wednesday 30th November we have a day off school as a result of this I have decided to film the performance on this day. I have arranged with a friend who can play the guitar to assist me with this. I will also try and film some of the narrative but if this is not possible I will film again on the following weekend.

Requesting permissions to use the song

I have sent an e-mail to the record label asking their permission to use 'Brand new start' below is a copy of the e-mail that I have sent to the record label and I will post the reply if i receive one.

Dear Sir/Madam

I am a student at a big school near Cambridge and for my A2 media project I am making a music video and I would like to ask your permission to use 'Brand new start' by Paul Weller from the album 'Modern classics'.
It will only be for educational purposes and I will not generate any income from this project.

I look forward to your response


Joshua Leek

Reprosentation in music videos

How are women represented in music videos with male artists?

There are many different things that are represented in music videos but one that is the most interesting in my opinion is how women are represented in music videos when the artist is male. This can be applied to almost all genres of music and the general stereotype is that men are dominant and women are seen to be either the subject of the song and this can make them seem that they are the men's property or the video has lots of women in it throwing themselves at the artist who's song it is. 

An example of when women are the subject of the song is Paolo Nutini’s Jenny don’t be hasty and the title give a clue to the song it is Paolo singing about a girl called Jenny who wants to leave him and he is singing as a message to her which is obviously don’t be hasty in making a decision. The use editing here is effective as it cuts from the performance to the narrative and this connotes his efforts to get her to stay and what Jenny is doing to get back at him.

An example of when the video shows women throwing the-selves at the male artist is in Snoop Dogg's Sweat; Snoop Dogg plays the pimp and walks around like he owns the place and that includes the women. He is the main protagonist and the camera is almost always on him which makes him seem dominant. The women are all interested in snoop and as soon as they sit down they are all over him and this gives a negative light to them. The use of meise-én-scene and lighting are important here as it is a club with low lighting and this gives the impression of the underworld, however, this is typical of Snoop Dogg videos.

Another example of how women are represented in music videos is Taio Cruz’s Dynamite the reason that women are in this video is as it would appeal to a more male audience. It is used as an aid to sell the song and the use of women is to widen the audience. The use of women in an atypical role works as it is not something that the audience is expecting to see (women working on cars and with power tools). They mise-én-scene consists of a junk yard in what looks like a desert or in a dry American state such a Texas. In terms of cinematography the framing consists of Taio Cruz in the middle and the two women both sides of him this connotes that he is in charge and is dominant.

In all of the examples above the sound is not as important as it is when analysing TV or cinema but it is dominant. Music videos tend to only usually the have soundtrack and this is the centre piece of any music video, however some artists have some diagetic sound before the performance or narrative starts and the video is matched to it. There really aren’t any theories of representations but some academics speculate with TV and cinema that if there are women working in high positions behind the camera such as producers or directors there tends to be a better representation of women on screen.

Album Cover - Original

The image below is the album cover for 'Modern Classics' this is the album that Brand new start comes from:

Here is some information about the album from Island Records' website:

This album was released on 6.02.2007 and for the U.S. market, the word "classics" is perhaps employed here with a certain irony, given that the vast majority of American listeners continue to turn the proverbial deaf ear to Weller's work. (of course, back in England, where he's a god, of course, these songs really were hits.) In any case, MODERN CLASSICS collects the best cuts from Weller's four solo albums released between 1992 and '97, the period when the former Jam-meister finally forged a coherent style out of his love for late-'60s artists like Traffic, the Small Faces, the Move, et al. What's particularly impressive is how the whole thing coheres. Despite the varying recording locations, dates, and personnel, the songs here sound like they were all bashed at one marathon all-night session."

Decision made

I have decided to create a music video for Paul Weller's - Brand new start

Here it is again:

Audience:

The audience for this music video could be anyone but my target audience is Paul Weller fans and I would expect this audience to be men and women in their late 30's early 40's. Once I have completed this video I will ask a wide variety of people what they thing of it. 

Strangers - It was a sin - Editing

After filming the performance we have edited a short amount of the footage as further practice and it also gives us experience on working with a real live band and not something that we put together with other students that don't know how to play the instruments. The final product is in my opinion of a good quality and from the feedback that we received the lip synching was very good and also the transitions between the different shots were also very effective. The reason that we did not edit the whole video is that I am also preparing to film my video for my coursework and as I have done a practice before with Radar Love I do not need to spend lost of time on this.

Here is the finnished product:

Strangers gig

As preparation for filming our music video we had a band come into the school called 'Strangers' and they allowed us to film their performance in a private session. The purpose of this is that it allows us to practice filming a real band and it also allows them to gain publicity. In my group which consisted of Harrison, Becky, Gemma, Alison and myself we filmed their song 'It was a sin'.

Here is the current music video they have for this song,

As you can see there is no performance elements in it which I feel it could do with just to make it a bit more exciting and to capture the audience more.

Video Share

In the lesson today I will be sharing FEAR by Ian Brown, the reason for this is that I think that it is an interesting video. The use of footage that has been reversed so it looks like he is traveling backwards and the use of on-scree graphics to highlight what the lyrics are. The focus is on Ian Brown in the centre of the frame and the surrounding areas have been blurred out lightly.

Click here for the video as it was not on youtube

Class Practice video assessment

In the lesson we watched all of the videos that people had produced for 'Radar Love' and we discussed what where thought were good about the video and what could be improved. The general comment that popped up with pretty much all of the music videos is that to improve the timing needed to be a little bit better as the lip synching was not always spot on.

The feedback that we got on our video was that the good bits were the lip synching, the performance, instrument choice and the pace of shots were all  good but to improve we could work on the frame the shots a bit better, some of the shots are maybe a bit to long which could lose the audiences attention. another point for improvement is the variety of shots used could be wider but as the room that we were filming in is very small this was not really possible to do but when I film the main task the locations will be better so a variety of shots will be possible to achieve.

The two other areas that we assessed the video on are the following;

A)  Matching tempo with action
B)  Meeting audience needs

The reason that this is important is that all music videos have a certain genre and depending on that genre  there are different conventions that the video can contain for example most rock videos are performance, so the audience has chosen that genre of music and they expect the the conventions of that genre, this means that it meets that audience needs.

When it comes to matching tempo with action if there is a fast beat to the song there tends to be a faster pace when it comes to the change of shots. If the beat is slower then the cuts are not as quick.

Main project music video research

For my main task I have decided that I want to do a song that is fairly old, the reasoning behind this is that all my class mates are doing a modern song and from watching videos from the previous students they are all based around modern songs.

Below are a few ideas for songs that I could make a new music video for:

Paul Weller - Brand new start

I like this song as has a nice calm tempo to it, some people may argue that it is depressing but I think that it is about moving towards the future after something bad has happened. Another reason why I like it is because it has a simple mise-en-scene and the camera angles are very simple as is the editing. I feel that this video suits the song very well but that there is room for improvement.
Snow Patrol - Open your eyes

The reason that I have chosen this song is that I don't think that the video relates to the song very well. The way in which this video was shot was a camera was mounted on the bonnet of a Ferrari and driven as fast as possible around the streets of Paris in the early morning. With the lyrics that this song has I don't really feel that that is relavant.
The Jam - That's entertainment

Another one of Paul Wellers songs here but this time it was when he was with The Jam, this song is probable one of The Jams biggest hits and I feel that a new video would update it and make it a better viewing experience. There are some camera shots that I like in this video such as the long shot of all of the band together playing their instruments, the reason that I like this is that it shows the music been played and the passion behind the lyrics.
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

The video above is not the official music video as far as I'm aware and after doing dome research on YouTube I can 't seem to find an official video to stream in here so there is not much I can say about how the video is constructed.

Analysis of The Jam - Going underground

Here is the song again,

In the video not only are there a lot of references to the 'mods' but there are also genre theories present and these are,

Distopia - It is not a song about what people wish was happening it is basically having a dig at the goverment in 1980 and the prime minister (Margret Thatcher)

Social inadaquacy - The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, the ric want more money and the people theya re getting it from are the poor

Weller is basiclly singing about everthing he hates and the libary footage of the atomic bomb is a refrence to Engalds commitment to the nuclar program in the 80's

Generic conventions comparison

In the lesson we were asked to compare out AS production and a real media text.

Here is what I did:

The Vixens

In the lesson we looked at a previous A2 production by a group of girls that called themselves 'The Vixens'. They were awarded a level 4 for their video, here is the video:

The reasons being this could of been awarded a level 4 are the following:

Editing

• Variety of shots
• On tempo / on beat
• Good lip Syncing
• Colour letter boxing

Meis-en-scene

• Infinity scoop
• Use of costume
• Props
• Only two locations

Cinematography

• Good range of shots
• Well framed
• Steady shot
• Simplistic camera work

Sound

• not much diagetic sound, some at the beginning and end

Genre theory

The genre of the music that i am going to produce a music video is new wave, so I have done some background research into other songs of that genre, new wave consists of mod revival, Rhythm and blues, jazz soul, power pop, punk rock, ska and pop below are some songs of the new wave genre:

Boom town rats - I don't like mondays

Madness - Baggy trousers

The Jam - Going underground

Talking heads - Once in a lifetime

Talking heads - And she was

Audience theory

Today in class we discussed audience theory, here is what we found out:

Hypodermic Needle Theory

We are all affected by the media in the same way.

Reception Theory

Text has no inherent meaning because meaning is created by the audience during consumption of a text.

Two Step Flow Theory

'Opinion leaders' influence the thoughts and interpretations of media texts by others.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

The audience is very much active and can determine their own interpretations of texts.

What I found interesting in relation to creating a music video, hence why I'm blogging about this, was Blulmer and Katz's four purposes that might make an audience consume a text. These are: -

- Diversion - to escape from everyday problems and/or routines.

- Personal Relationships - using a text for emotional and other types of interaction.

- Personal Identity - finding themselves reflected in texts, helping them to learn about their own behaviour and values.

- Surveillance - retrieving useful information such as weather updates and news bulletins.

Types of research

In the lesson we discussed different types of research.

Qualitative

Exploring the qualities of individual texts, interpreted  broadly so as to include audience responses as explored in interviews, focus groups and so on.

Quantitate - Statistical research e.g.. questionnaires

Qualitative - Qualities of texts, peoples opinions e.g. interviews

Focus groups- bringing small groups of the target audience together to see what they think

Pink and Eminem

In the lesson today we looked Pink's fu**ing perfect music video and then we compared it to another video of our choice that is similar. Similar in terms of theme and what the song is about and what the audience is.

Here is Pink's Fu**ing perfect music video

and here is Eminem's Not afraid

The similarities are that the audience are the same and I feel that the audience is teenagers and early twenties both men and women. They are both about themselves and what it was like growing up and the pressures that they were under. The lyrics are powerful in both videos and the video complements this as there is a scene in Pink's video when the woman self-harms and then sees the teddy bear and then realises what she is doing, the music then picks up and this adds to the power of what is going on visually.

Eminem's video is different, the establishing shot is of him stood on the edge of a tall building and it looks as if he is going to jump off it. When he says 'you can try and copy my lyrics off the paper' it suggests that he is fed up with people trying to copy his work. When he edges closer to the edge of the building it makes it seem that he is serious about jumping off.

Audience

We spent a couple of lessons talking about audience and what the audience needs are. We also discussed the hypodermic needle model which is the theory of the audience all receive the text in the same way. We also explored other audience theories such as uses and gratification theory and the dependency theory.

Here are some of the notes I made:

Filming a 30 second performance video

As a practice for filming the real video I have made a 30 second video to Golden Earrings Radar love. The advantage of this is that it allows me to practice the different camera shots and angles that could be used for filming a production video.

Below are some images of the shoot

30 Seconds mini task (Radar Love) - My video

Here is the video that I created

Editing A Performance Video

As a practice for the main task we filmed and edited a 30 second performance video for Radar Love by Golden Earring. To edit this we used Final Cut Express. As an editing experience it did not go well to start with as once we put the footage in editing we found it was not usable. So we had to re-film, as a result of this the new footage was much better and allowed us to achieve a good performance. The whole purpose of this task was to practice making a performance video as we have never don this before.

Radar love - Golden Earring

As part of the preparation for producing the main music video I made 30 second performance music video for practice and it was base on the song Radar love by Golden Earring. The reason that i did this was to get a bit of practice on filming a performance music video. I did not consider the location or costume important in this video as the purpose was to focus on the actual performance. As inspiration for this I used U2 at Glastonbury as in an earlier post.

Here is the song and original video for Radar Love by Golden Earring

Research - Michael Jackson and Alien Ant Farm Smooth Criminal

To see about a possible way in which we could do a music video of a song that already has one and is very well established we looked at Michael Jackson's Smooth criminal and Alien Ant farms version and we came to the conclusion that AAT's version is not a homage but a Parady, where as in MJ's original he is an outsider in 1950's America when gangs/the mafia were at large but he has to prove himself worthy of been in the speak ease and instead of fighting he dances and he gets accepted.

Here is Michael Jackson's original

and here is Alien Ant Farms parady of the above

Research

In class we discussed the different types of music video and Bhartes narrative codes (and how they relate to  music videos) which are the following:

• Enigma
• Action
• Semic
• Symbolic
• Cultural

Here is an image of some work that I did in class and as you can see the I applied it to some music videos currently out.

PLACE PICTURES HERE

U2 at Glastonbury 2011

Camera shots:

There is a variety of shots used in the above video such as close-ups of the crowd and low angles of the band, there is a lot of point of view shots from the crowd, the reason that these shots are used is because it POV shots give the view from the audience, this allows the audience at home to have t he full festival experience. 

Other shots used that are important to the whole festival experience are the close-ups of the band as each instrument starts to play this introduces each member of the band to the viewer at home. In the main chorus The Edge provides the backing vocals and as soon as he starts singing the camera cuts to him. Towards the end of the video there is a close up of the fretwork on the guitar and to the left of the frame you can clearly see the crowd, this shot is used to show off not only how good their equipment and the musicians are but how many people are in the crowd.

Lighting is also important in this video as it adds to the effect of the performance, the spotlights make the band members stand out and it blackens the background so all that is visible in shot is the band members. At one point there is a long shot from the left of the stage and the band members are at the bottom of the frame dwarfed by the enormity of the stage and you can see the spotlights above them making them look powerful even thought in the shot they seem quite small.

The framing is also excellent as there is clearly a sense of what is important at the time for example at 0:37 the lead singer is clearly the centre of attention at that time because he is singing. At 0:52 the lead guitarist is in the centre of the frame, the reason that this may also be used is to make that sound stand out from the rest of the music. If you are looking at the guitar you tend to notice it more that you would if you were looking at the drummer.